In response to the requests of curious readers, I’ve put together an entry further illuminating the Chinese system of athletic development. Much like the Chinese system of governance, it was first fashioned after the Soviet model before rapid modernization lead to certain deviations.

    The system has proved remarkably successful in recent years. At Athens in ’04, China won 32 gold medals, only three fewer than the Americans. Immediately after Athens, the government instituted an ambitious national athletic initiative called Project 119. Choosing 119 medals in sports in which the Chinese Olympic Team traditionally makes a poor showing or does not compete at all (such as boxing, canoeing, archery, etc.), the government aggressively trained new athletes to capture these medals at the Beijing Games in August.

    The Chinese system of athletic development begins on the provincial level. Children are selected when they are still very young (usually between the ages of six and nine) to join teams funded by provincial governments. There are 34 province-level administrative units in China. Some provinces excel in certain sports (Liaoning province in China’s northeast, for instance, is known for producing outstanding ping-pong players).

    Obviously, selection criteria differ from sport to sport, but promising athletes are often distinguished by physical attributes such as above-average height or flexibility. For example, when searching for gifted boxers, the Chinese government first looks for children whose wingspan exceeds their height.

    Provincial governments nurture the young athletes, closely monitoring their progress and subjecting them to rigorous training regimens. The provincial athletic organizations then compete against one another in tournaments that determine who will be chosen for the national team.

    The entire system rewards success no matter what the cost. As such, Chinese athletes are sometimes characterized as passionless automatons driven only by the desire to win. Other countries routinely accuse China of advocating systematized steroid abuse to achieve success, and in the mid-to-late 90s a series of doping scandals rocked the national women’s swimming team (remember the enormous latissimi dorsi on those girls?). Lasting repercussions remain.

    Despite the importance of provincial governments in the development process, talented athletes can still join the national team even if they haven’t been cultivated by a state-sponsored athletic organization. An example is Liu Xiang, who was discovered by the national team when he was already 15. Once an athlete joins the national team, his life becomes even more structured and exhausting. Athletes often practice 7 days a week for hours on end.

    During the entire process, an athlete’s life is never entirely his or her own. Because the Chinese government pays for their food, shelter, and training, athletes are considered property of the state. An athlete can neither fire his state-assigned coach nor marry without his coach’s permission (in fact, weightlifter Zhang Guozheng is the only married member of the Chinese national team). An athlete cannot endorse a product without the central government’s permission, and athletes are discouraged from signing too many endorsement deals because the government doesn't want champions of a (purportedly) socialist state to appear preoccupied with making money instead of winning medals.

    When an athlete does endorse a product, he or she can only keep half the earnings. The other half is divided up among the key components of the Chinese system of athletic development: 20% of the earnings goes to the coach, 10% goes to the team (for example, Guo Jingjing gives 10% of her earnings to the national diving team), 10% goes to a state athletic fund, and 10% goes to the home province. Because each province takes a cut of the earnings of its stable of athletes, disputes sometimes arise over which provinces "owns"  certain athletes. An athlete can conceivably retire at any time, but upon retiring he or she loses all support from the government. It’s hard not to pity people with so little free will.